


Tenuous Connections

by Neverever



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Friendship, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Pre-Slash, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-06-08 12:43:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6855184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve tries to figure out Tony and suspects that Natasha is hiding something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tenuous Connections

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as part of the 2016 MCU Rolling Remix. I was in Team SSR. For the whole list of remixes and who remixed what and the story that started it all, check out the [Rolling Remix FAQ](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/MCURollingRemix2016/profile#faq).
> 
> This fic was a remix of Zippit's [Old Dogs and New Tricks](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6724702). And in turn, my fic was remixed by Jadesfire into [This is how it goes (the One Day At A Time remix)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7013878).

They’re still cleaning up Fury’s messes. And SHIELD’s.

Steve should be annoyed. He’s getting more and more bone weary from the constant missions. If he’s not on a mission, he’s either working out or training his new teammates. The monotony of his days and nights eats at him.

The team is shaping up nicely. They take down goons and the terrorists like clockwork these days. That’s not the source of Steve’s vague unease. It’s the elusive pieces of intel they find when they raid HYDRA or AIM sites. 

Natasha ponders over the pieces like she’s putting together a jigsaw puzzle. She tells him nearly everything she finds. But she doesn’t disclose what she’s searching for. 

It rubs Steve wrong.

He believes she’ll tell him when she’s figured out her puzzle. He trusts Natasha. Her quick analysis of situations and deft touch with political realities help with the missions. They make very few missteps.

Her words to him when she handed over the Soviet files on Bucky still haunt him. “You might not want to pull on that thread.” He wasn’t warned off then, and isn’t now.

He’s meeting with Tony today to talk Avengers business. Tony is already in the conference room, talking on his cell phone. Tony’s always in suits these days. Suits and ties worth more than Steve.

“Steve, long time no see. How’s Camp Avenger these days?” He smiles and shakes Steve’s hand.

“Doing well,” Steve says. He sends Tony reports about their activities. But he prefers to talk in person so he can assess Tony’s reactions in real time. Tony does not possess a poker face.

If Natasha has her intel puzzle, Steve has his Tony puzzle.

After Sokovia, Tony gave up his spot on the team, declaring he needed to move onto other things and projects. He stayed away for a few months, then showed up at the Avengers facility with a laptop full of ideas for upgrading uniforms and equipment. From there it wasn’t long before he donned an Iron Man suit to spar with Rhodey.

Steve would see them joking around in a training room with all the ease and familiarity of years of friendship. Rhodey would ask Tony about joining the Avengers again, and Tony would shrug the questions off. 

Sam has his theories about Tony. Steve doesn’t always catch pop culture references but he understands guilt, regret and the demands of responsibilities. 

The thing is that he likes Tony. He finds Tony brilliant and interesting and fundamentally a good man. He likes working with people who challenge him. He wants to be better friends with the man who is giving a tremendous amount to the Avengers. He’s sure they could bridge the gap between them if Tony worked with the team more.

Tony goes over the reports with Steve. He talks about what he’s learned as the government liaison for the Avengers. He shows Steve a report about the Winter Soldier. “Read this when you get a chance.”

“We’re not bringing Bucky in for the CIA,” Steve replied firmly. They’ve had this discussion before.

Tony sighs. “Just think about it, Steve. Natasha probably has a dozen leads already that we could send on.”

He asks a few questions here and there, mostly about equipment and technology performance. Finished, he sits back and steeples his fingers. He purses his lips like he’s about to say something, then shakes his head. “Show me around,” he says, jumping to his feet.

Steve takes him around. Lots of people stop to smile and wave at Tony, though they’re busy with work. They watch Sam and Wanda training. “Rhodey’s on assignment with the Air Force,” Steve explains, even though Tony probably knows that.

Tony nods. His face is unreadable as Sam launches into the air and hovers above Wanda. “I like the red in the wings,” he says. 

“Sam sure loves to fly.”

“Can’t blame him. Best feeling in the world.”

They end up in a data analysis area. Natasha and Clint are sitting at a table with laptops, deep in conversation. No longer on the active roster, Clint is still on call as a consultant. Steve didn’t know he would be at the facility today. Natasha shuts down what they were looking at as Steve and Tony walk in. 

“Nice to see you, Clint,” Steve says with a smile. 

“Hey, it’s old home week,” Clint exclaims. 

Steve listens as his friends catch up. Tony does a little demonstration of his new phone. Seeing him like this reminds Steve of Howard. He’s already learned it’s a spectacularly bad idea to mention Tony’s father. Steve can’t get his head around what he remembers of the brash scientist and what Howard did after the war. Tony has years and years of these memories and stories.

Tony makes a joke about Avatar. Steve has no idea what he’s talking about, but Natasha and Clint laugh. Too late he realizes that Avatar is a movie. 

He has these moments every day. He’s not as lost as he was when he came out of the ice. But he’s reminded of the seventy years he slept when he doesn’t catch the references he sees and hears. People assume what he does and doesn’t know. 

Tony, with his nicknames, t-shirts, and jokes, is a constant challenge for him. He wants to talk to Tony but he can’t connect to him. Or anyone really. 

Maybe there are reasons Steve and Tony aren’t better friends. Howard, Steve’s tenuous relationship with the present, Tony’s ambivalence about his place with the Avengers.

And Bucky is out there somewhere. Steve owes it to Bucky to rescue him from whatever hell he’s in. But he can’t deny the upside -- he wouldn’t be alone in not understanding Tony and his modern references.

“I should join you on the next mission. Just for practice,” Tony says. 

Natasha, tactful as she usually is, shakes her head with a smile. “Better to practice here than in the field.”

“I don’t know about that,” Tony replies. “I do pretty well with spontaneity.”

“Lately all we’ve done are missions to wrap up any remaining HYDRA intelligence operations. Not that exciting.”

“Hmmm. Funny, I just read a bunch of reports about Avengers working to take down pockets of HYDRA soldiers. I can help with that. And who’s better at breaking into computer systems?”

Natasha gives him a cool look. “It’s Steve’s call. He’s team leader.”

They all turn to Steve. 

Steve is not unintelligent. He can read people. And he narrows his eyes as he sees that Natasha is not keen on Tony rejoining the team. He guesses she has leads on Bucky that she doesn’t want to share for her own reasons. But she can’t deny Tony’s tremendous value on the team. 

“Sure, we can work Tony back onto the team, if he wants to.”

Tony slaps him on the back. “We should have a party.”

Steve smiles back. It will be good to reunite the team. He wants that. He wants to work towards being friends with Tony. “Good idea.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [This is how it goes (the One Day At A Time remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7013878) by [Jadesfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadesfire/pseuds/Jadesfire)




End file.
